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| If ND doesn't do any worse than last year in the two grand slams, Nadal needs the next 3 tournaments to either go the same way as last year, or for him to win at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon. If the latter happens, and we don't include the other grass tournament in between Roland Garros and Wimbledon, the Rankings should end up with the following if Nadal wins all 3 and Federer makes the final (assuming Novak makes the semi in Hamburg: Federer = 6825 - 450 = 6375 Nadal = 5435 + 450 = 5885 Djokovic = 5125 + 100 = 5225 If the results are the same as last year the rankings should remain the same all but for Novak who would gain an extra 100 points for the semi in Hamburg. Federer should gain some points though in between the 2 grand slams as he was ill last year and had to miss his tournament which he was the 3 time defending champion. Nadal will gain some points if he makes it past the quarters at Queens. Djokovic will also gain some points if he makes it past the R16 which he should do as he'll be No. 2 seed at the very least. Nadal and Djokovic don't have a lot to gain/lose so those tournaments shouldn't play a big part in the points. Unfortunately, the bad news is that if Nadal and Federer aren't firing, Novak shouldn't have a lot of trouble winning one of the two as he may not have to face either and we could have a whole changing of the guard with our little princess going all the way to No. 1. I do not want to see the day when that happens. |
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| Bernie, I agree with you there about ND not being to hold #1 for long if he achieves it eventually. He is not a 'sure thing' and will be under immense pressure to retain his position (which we know he can't deal with and doesn't have the mental toughness for). What is 100% for sure is that Roger and Rafa will right up his ar.se, snapping at his heels should he get past them. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What is going on with Gasquet? He is having a really cr.appy season - hard to imagine he was in Shanghai only a few months back. |
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| Davydenko's consistency is why I've backed him for the quarters. If Djokovic makes it to number 1 he has a lot to do this season. And Fed and Nadal have to do not a lot. Come next season, look who has the pressure on them to defend all those points. No pulling out of the tournaments then. He might have to start pumping some weights for a change to keep himself fit. He won't be able to hold a top position for long like Fed and Nadal have. He's just not consistent enough. |
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| Gosh - I've just had a read through the latest posts - anyone would think we're a bit 'anti-Serb' here .... (10pts for that 'Princess-in-Waiting' quote L.) Anyway, I don't really want good 'ole Nole to get as far as playing James Blake and given his good week, bad week style of playing, he probably won't get that far. If he plays true to form, he should crash early this tournament. He can use his sore throat, dizziness, breathing whatever as an excuse and get ready for RG. There has been a lot of hype lately about this guy - yes, he is certainly playing very well so far this season and shaking things up. But I think we need to remember that of the 2 clay tournaments he has played so far, he retired in the first and only won the second by way of 2 retirements (very Steven Bradbury) and let's not forget the highest ranked player he faced was Wawrinka(?). So can he keep it up? I think he will have not a small amount of points to defend this season so the pressure is also on him as well as Fedal. Until he takes RG from Rafa and Wimbledon / US Open from Roger, he can just stay where he is - a v. good player making a challenge. BTW, saw some of Davydenko's match last night - that guy seems to be a real 'quiet achiever' - he is so consistent, not at all flashy and there he sits at No. 4. |
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| I'm all for your JB v Little Princess clash but I want one of the following 3 to knock him out. He has to play 1 clay court specialist in J.Chela first up but I don't think he will have any worries there. Its the next match I'm hoping one of the other 2 step up to the plate. Tommy Robredo and Ivo Karlovic. Whoever wins their match should get a shot at Djokovic. Both of them can have their ups and downs though. Lets just hope they have a big up against Novak. I'd like to see Karlovic play him. His serve would frustrate our little princess if he plays at his peak and they haven't clashed before either. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Go to the top of the class Len....btw way James and Marty just thrashed the #3 seeds 6/2 6/3....what a way to start off in Hamburg for him | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To almost quote our dear, dear friend for the JB vs our Third Serbian Princess (he is definitely behind #1 Novak and #2 Jelena).... GO JAMES!!! Gosh, it is exhilarating making such a superlative statement. |
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| and make that 3 retirements as Volandri started the flow yesterday plus Almagro before he even started. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No it is your turn to make me laugh L. Third Serbian Princess lol. Unfortunatelty he did come through and win in 3 so he's up against JB tomorrow> No guesses who I am tipping. Talking of which he won doubles yesterday with Marty and is upa set and a break tonight against Bhupathi/Knowles 6/3 3/0. Getting some good clay feet I hope as well as confidence |
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| "he needs you around to keep him up to date" G - that gave me a great, much needed laugh. Thanks. Stan looks like he only needs to know about how to hit a ball and nothing about his ranking. I would be happy to offer him my employed services to travel the world to the many tournaments and update him weekly on what his ranking is, so when he addresses the media, he don't make himself out to be BETTER than what he is....cheeky bugger he is. As for the retirements already, you just beat me to it. Saw the results a couple of minutes ago and despite no big names (yet), it is a further two retirements during this clay court season to date. I wonder what the %s are like at years end with retirements per surface. I can only hope Andreas Beck has enough in the tank to take the third from the Serbian Princess in Waiting... |
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| The retirment tournament is under way. Somewhere we lost Almagro...didn't read that anywhere and he was replaced by Vliegan and acasusco just won that match when Vliegen retired And now Horna retured iun his match with Starace. When will it end |
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| Here's a run down from the ATP site for tonight: http://au.sports.yahoo.com/tennis/news/article/-/3 307240 |
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| I knew I read somewhere about Wawrinka and the top 10: "With his compatriot Roger Federer ranking at No. 1, it is the first time that two Swiss players have ranked in the Top 10 at the same time in the history of the ATP Rankings (since 1973)". And Len: I knew that 44 came from somewhere..The same article and his own works :-) On his rankings leap, Wawrinka said: "I'm a little surprised, because in one week playing the final in Masters Series, and to be 44 and then Top 10 after the week is a big jump for me." he needs you around to keep him up to date G |
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| We now have a first with Stan's big jump in the rankings. I haven't gone through all the stats but this would have to be the first time we've had 2 players from Switzerland in the top 10. I saw a replay of a shot he played the other night. It was a backhand winner down the line and the first thing that came into my head was "Federer". The shot was aimed and landed more than a foot inside the side line, compared to Federer's on the line, but the way he played it reminded me of our current world no. 1. Maybe we have another player with the potential to make it big coming from our small European country. Just had a quick look at his record with the ATP Rankings and from August last year, he has improved slowly but surely with what is 3 finalist appearances, 2 quarter finalists appearances (1 each in a Masters event recently and the other an ATP tour event), a semi final appearance in an ATP tour event as well as reaching the round of 16 at the US Open where it took 5 sets to knock him out. He knocked Marit Safin out in straight sets in the 2nd round. In the 3rd round he outlasted someone in 5 sets so he seems no slouch with the fitness. The match he lost could have gone either way. Might be worth monitoring his next couple of months. |
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| Certainly not in the first set. He was all at sea...but then things changed and he started to find his clay feet. His words best discribe the match: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/tennis/05/12 /bc.ten.hamburgmasters.ap/index.html?eref=si_tenni s As for the position with #2 and # 3 in rankings...here is what Nadel said: http://au.sports.yahoo.com/tennis/news/article/-/3 296426 Let's all hope that he is wrong and the Serbian P stay where he is...only time will tell, certainly Hamburg shoudl say Nadal has to get to the finals or better to get any more points. That is a massive number to protect. The joker has only to get to the QF then get points if he goes further. I just hope your predictions, well I think it was you, and that Black gets to the QF ..we shall see. He only plays doubles tonight with Marty but that is all good practise on these tricky courts. |
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| I haven't been able to watch Tsonga play since the Australian Open. Just curious to see if Tsonga hits the ball the same way, playing his shots as he did against Nadal and Djokovic. He beat Nadal at the A Open because Nadal kept hitting the ball back to him around the service line. Rather than try and put some topspin on it and put it away, he would just use power and virtually flat bat it away for a winner because it sat up and bounced to at least waist height. He didnt get away with it in the final. Djokovic didn't have a great match but he pushed the balls further back into Tsonga's court which made it hard for him to pull off the flat batted shots. Is Tsonga still playing as he did then because he hasn't gone too far since the Australian Open. |
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| you are right L ...you should be used to my errors by now I meant 24 but even still it is a big jump. But then again the distance between the two levels is much smaller than usual. The gaps between are now so small I watched the Tsonga match from half way through the first set. He just didn't seem to be on the same court as his opponent. The he started to play some great tennis. Hope he goes forward abit more as I would like to see him playing RF when he has his game together. Volandri retired..yet another. When will it stop A couple of supruses Llodra taking Canas..Kiefer taking Mathieu. The big boys are out to play tonight |
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| Hey G...a small correction on the ranking for Stan. He was at 24 last week and now at 10 after Rome. On checking his ranking this year, the lowest he has been was 35 during the week of 10 March. Hamburg is already dishing up the interesting results. Youzhny (as 10th seed) has had his third straight 1st rnd loss. Volandri is the first retirement. Wonder who is next. I am still perplexed (after just putting on the TV) to see that Tsonga won in three after being pasted 0-6 by Mahut in the first. This is what I love about tennis - one bad set means nothing sometimes and a player can still recover to win. Reminds me of Novotna in the 95 French Open - up 5-0 and 40-0 (on opponents serve), she lost the that last set 8-6! Then Sabatini leading Fernandez 6-1, 5-1 in the 93 FO QF and lost 8-10 in the third. |
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| and that other swiss Wawrinka who is now moved up to #10 from 44 Rafa has to get to the finals once more to keep his points...whereas the Serbian P only has to get to the 4th round then he will retire to get his strength back for RG |
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| Folks, the latest rankings are out. I knew Novak would be closer to Rafa, but thought at least two hundred points LESS. Rafa will have to hold on for dear life to this #2 ranking if he wants to be opposite on the draw to Roger at Roland Garros: 1. Federer: 6825 2. Nadal: 5435 3. Djokovic: 5125 Not worth listing the rest other than Davydenko given the margin. Davydenko: 3290 |
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| Agreed. That si what will get bumms on the seats after all. I am going to be in Lodnon when RG is on and hope to be able to go over at least for a couple of days. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Even though you support Blake gr, I would love to see the next 3 major tournaments, Hamburg, Roland Garros, and Wimbledon, feature a Nadal v Federer final. They had the same last year. A bit hard to have a repeat. That doesn't happen too often. But I think we would have more people on the edge of their seats if that was the case. In all 3 finals we would see the runner up from last year, gunning for the title he lost to his opponent in the final last year. They would be some matches you wouldn't want to miss out on. Two fully fit players who won't lay down and say die. You would have to drag them off the court kicking and screaming before they would give up. That's just what I like to see. And a major plus is that 2 of them are a best of 5 which brings out the real endurance factor in the players. Something these two seem to be the only ones on the circuit who can outlast the rest due to their fitness level. I know they both like a match that is decided on 5 sets because of this even though neither of them have to go the full distance very often at all. |
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| Well let's all hope that this MS will be more rewarding than Rome which was a disappointment to us all. Already the withdrawls are on us once more. First Roddi.ck and now Stepanek.. thanks weekender for your faith in JB. you are my minda man. At least he got a good start last night in the doubles with Marty 6/1 6/4 a good way to start to find your clay feet. Your predictions for the QF I ahgree with for now (smile). Who knows what is going to ahppen in the second rounds when the big boys come out to play. |
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| Just had a look at the draw for Hamburg. I can't see too many upsets happening in it though. I hope I'm right but I don't think Djokovic will make the quarter finals though. He'll have to knock off Karlovic or Robredo. Neither of them will pull out in the middle of their match. If I'm right there, and I hope I am, it will give Blake the ideal chance to make the semi against Nadal if he is fit. He should be fit too after a decent rest. Although I wouldn't want the blisters he had. Not pretty. Federer should make it to the semi against Ferrer but I'm not sure about Davydenko. That quarter has too many players that can pull out a good performance when needed even though they aren't rated that highly. Too early to predict but I'm going with the following for the quarter finals. Roger Federer v David Ferrer Nikolay Davydenko v ? James Blake v Tommy Robredo Rafael Nadal v Thomas Berdych I'll probably jinx a number of those players but its the best I could come up with after looking at the draw. |
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